The next big business trend that we are going to see, and that is happening already, is not only that aboriginal businesses are going to be stronger components of the corporate supply chain, but we are also going to see them as stronger proponents of equity positions and actual partners within resource projects.

JP Gladu of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business discusses native participation in resource industries...Read More

Posts tagged ‘lapis lazuli’

“Unlike any diamond offered at auction before,” according to Sotheby’s, a 100-carat stone sold for $22.1 million in New York on April 21. One of only six “perfect” diamonds above 100 carats auctioned in the last 25 years, the Emerald-cut, D-colour and internally flawless rock, mounted on a platinum ring, outshone a sale of exceptional opulence that totalled over $65 million.

The diamond “captivated people around the world” but other jewelry also fetched remarkable prices.

“The stone captivated people around the world throughout our extensive travels this spring, but it was a particular privilege to offer it at our New York headquarters,” said Lisa Hubbard of Sotheby’s International Jewelry Division.

The diamond came from a southern Africa De Beers mine, according to media reports. The BBC said the stone took a year to cut, polish and perfect. Rapaport News reported that applause greeted the sale as an anonymous buyer phoned in the successful bid.

“The market for highly important diamonds was in evidence elsewhere in the sale as well,” Sotheby’s added. Another platinum and diamond ring went for $3.3 million, an 18-karat gold, fancy purplish diamond and sapphire ring got $2.4 million and a necklace of platinum, emerald, sapphire, lapis lazuli and diamond pendant “soared past its pre-sale high estimate to $2.6 million.”

Applause notwithstanding, Rapaport described the event as “a quiet sale with a very strong total,” adding that buyers paid “strong but sane sums for top-quality gems and jewelry.”

One day earlier Lucara Diamond TSX:LUC stated it found a 342-carat stone of “exceptional colour and clarity” from its Botswana operation.